St. John's Episcopal Church
139 Main Street
Massena, New York





The above photograph was taken several months ago by a visitor and sent to us for possible use on our web site. We thank him for the photograph and commend him for the capture of the beauty of this stain glass window which occupies the rear wall of our church.

The following article copied from the Sunday edition of the Herald Tribune dated June 11, 1944, details the origin of the above stain glass window and describes some of its contents.


Church's Glass Panel Depicts Madam Chiang

George Washington Carver Also in Window Tracing History of Christianity

Special to the Herald Tribune

MASSENA, N. Y., June 10. --- A large stained glass window in the west wall of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church here, in which Madam Chiang Kai-shek and George Washington Carver are included in depictions of racial representatives in the history of Christianity, has attracted thousands of visitors since its dedication eight months ago, Dr. Norman B. Godfrey, rector of the church, said yesterday.

The window, a radical departure in church art, has become a mecca for the thousands of war workers in Massena aluminum plants, who have expanded the city's peacetime population of 11,000 to 17000, Dr. Godfrey said.

The window, which measures fifteen by nineteen feet, unfolds the sequence of the Te Deum and takes its theme from one of the lines of the benediction hymn: "Holy Church throughout the world."

Wanted "Some One Alive"
"The window covers the history of the Christian religion from the earliest times up to the present," Dr. Godfrey said, "and includes Christian members of all the races of the world. We chose George Washintgon Carver as representative of the Negro race because of his great achievements for all people, and we include Madam Chiang because she is a distinguished Christian representative of the Oriental race and because we wanted to have some one in the window who is still alive, as the Church is alive."

Symbol of the American Indian is Eleazer Williams, a half-breed missionary who worked among the Oneidas in the early part of the last century, died in 1853 and is buried in the St. John's graveyard. Mr. Williams, who was the author of an Iroquois spelling book and an Iroquois version of the prayer book, believed that he was the lost Dauphin of France, and managed to convince many communities in northern New York that his claim was valid.

Madam Chiang is shown in Chinese costume amid flowers native to her country. She holds a scroll bearing the inscription: "We must try to forgive," a phrase taken from her speech on March 2, 1943, at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Letter Expected
"The Chinese Embassy in Washington has informed us that Madam Chiang has written them - of her appreciation," Dr. Godfrey said "and told them that she is going to write us about the window as soon as she can."

Dr. Carver, Negro agricultural chemist who died in January, 1943, is shown in his laboratory coat, surrounded by some of the plants with which he pioneered new industrial processes. At his feet is a peanut vine and the leaves of a sweet potato vine curl halo-like above his head. "It may seem sacrilegious," Dr. Gotlfrey said, "but the treatment is reverent and the effect is beautiful."

The window was designed by Dr. Godfrey and was executed by Valentine d'Ogries, stained glass artist whose art is represented in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and in many other modern churches, Mr. d'Ogries constructed the window of 7,000 pieces of French, Belgian and English glass of the 13th Century at his studio in New Hope, Pa. It was dedicated on Oct. 31, 1943 by the Venerable Dr. Abbott Hastings Archdeacon of Albany.




New page posted December 1, 2004.

Clergy and Parish Officials
Committees
Mission Statement
What's New
Services
Back to Main Page